TCU Breaks Ground on School of Medicine in Fort Worth

Texas Christian University recently broke ground on a new school of medicine in Fort Worth, Texas, to meet rising demand for medical services in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, according to a news release. The Anne Burnett Marion School of Medicine is scheduled to open in summer 2024 and is the university’s first significant off-campus development. It will have the capacity for 240 medical students (known as “Empathetic Scholars”) as well as hundreds of faculty and staff.

The 95,000-square-foot facility is named after Anne Burnett Marion, a Fort-Worth native and prominent Texas philanthropist who founded the Georgia O’Keefe Museum in Santa Fe, N.M.

“The digging has begun, and a new era for the Anne Burnett Marion School of Medicine has launched,” said Dean Stuart D. Flynn, M.D. “With this new building project in the city’s Near Southside neighborhood, TCU’s investment in Fort Worth, Tarrant County, and the state continues.”

The news release reports that the new facility is part of a larger, 5.3-acre extended campus master plan that will also include additional facilities. The medical school is a joint architectural venture between CO Architects, based in Los Angeles, Calif., and Hoefer Welker, based in Dallas-Fort Worth.

“Our design approach for the Burnett School of Medicine merges the modern-day medical school with the regional influences of Fort Worth and TCU’s recognizable architectural brand on a new, downtown campus,” said Jonathan Kanda, FAIA, Principal at CO Architects. “This new home will enable collaborative learning in team-based classrooms, experiential learning in simulated medical environments, and a meaningful, intimate culture in a wide range of community areas and small-group study spaces.”

“It will fuel innovation not just through traditional life science research, but also through close engagement with a broad, interdisciplinary array of hospital systems, health-related consortia, and biotech industries partners,” said Travis Leissner, AIA, Associate Principal at Hoefer Welker.

CO Architects is serving as the design architect and medical education specialist, while Hoefer Walker is the architect of record, according to the news release. The university is also partnering with Dunaway as the civil and structural engineer and landscape architect, SSR Inc. as the building systems engineer, and Linbeck as the construction manager.

About the Author

Matt Jones is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • Northeastern University Breaks Ground on New Housing Community

    Northeastern University recently announced the groundbreaking of a new student housing community on its campus in Boston, Mass., according to a news release. The university is partnering with American Campus Communities (ACC) for development of the project, which will have the capacity for 1,200 students and has a scheduled completion date of fall 2028.

  • NWEA Report Recommends K–12 Natural Disaster Recovery Strategies

    The Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA), a K–12 assessment and research organization, recently announced the release of a new playbook for schools and communities recovering from extreme weather events, according to a news release.

  • Minnesota Middle School Finishes $23.5M Addition and Modernization

    Highland Park Middle School in St. Paul, Minn., recently announced the completion of a $23.5-million addition and remodel project, according to a news release. Saint Paul Public Schools partnered with ATS&R Planners, Architects & Engineers for its design and Kraus-Anderson for its construction.

  • El Paso District Breaks Ground on New Elementary School

    The Canutillo Independent School District in El Paso, Texas, recently announced that construction has begun on a 119,000-square-foot elementary school, according to a news release. The district partnered with Pfluger Architects, Carl Daniel Architects, and LDCM Solutions on the new Davenport Elementary School, which has an expected completion date of 2027.